Fresh DPL dates

The dates for the much awaited Dhaka Premier League (DPL) have been announced for the fifth time this year as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced that the league is set to begin on September 3 following its board meeting at Mirpur yesterday. The players' transfer of the competition will be held on August 25.
Previously the competition was supposed to begin on August 29 with the players' transfer scheduled to take place on
July 25.
BCB's ad-hoc committee also stated that the Super League round of the competition, where the top six clubs would battle for championship, could take place either in October or November. “New Zealand is scheduled to come to Bangladesh in October, so the national players will be busy. If the clubs agree to play the league without the national players then we can continue with the Super League in October. Otherwise the league will recommence in November,” said Jalal Yunus, head of BCB's media committee at a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
Yunus further stated that the clubs had backtracked from their previous decision of not playing the league without the national players and told the BCB's president that they were 'positive' about continuing the league in October.
If the Super League does take place in October, that would create a vacant slot between December and January during which period the BCB is planning to host the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League.
“According to the initial draft which we sent, the BPL was likely to take place after the T20 World Cup (in March-April 2014). However, it may take place in December as well. We are still working on the calendar and we will confirm it in a day or two,” said Naimur Rahman, head of the BCB's tournament committee.
While the starting date of the league has been finalised, the board officials had no concrete answer regarding the financial grants that the clubs are expecting to receive from the board.
The other domestic tournaments -- the National Cricket League and the Bangladesh Cricket League -- are expected to take place after the end of this year's Dhaka Premier League.
The board also stated that they would ensure that the players who participated in the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League receive 45 to 50 per cent of their payments before Eid. “Majority of the players in the BPL received 25 per cent of their fees. To those players the board has decided to pay 25 per cent more,” said Yunus.
With regards to the BCB elections, Yunus stated that the board will send a letter to the National Sports Council asking them to start the election process and form the election commission as soon as possible. The board will also send letters to the affiliated bodies on August 12, through which they will be asked to present the names of their councillors within ten days of that date.
With regard to former umpire Nadir Shah's review request of the board's decision to ban him from umpiring for ten years, Yunus said, “It hasn't been a year since the timeline of the punishment was announced. The BCB therefore feels that this is not the right time for him to ask for a review. We will consider it after a year passes.”
The board also revealed that they have decided to send bowler Abul Hasan, who requires a back surgery, abroad for
treatment.
The Board has also decided extend support to the Bagh-USAID's Bengal Tiger Conservation Activity. The activity objective is to conserve Bangladesh's rich biodiversity through a focus on the conservation of the Royal Bengal Tiger and the Sundarbans mangrove forest ecosystem.